Blizzcon 2016 Overwatch, Diablo 3, HotS, Hearthstone and More

Between paying salaries to Overwatch League Players and Diablo I playable in the Diablo 3 engine, there was tons of info today at Blizzcon 2016. I’ve compiled all the trailers and goodies here, enjoy.

Heroes of the Storm got 2 big new trailers, including the announcement of 2 new characters. Varian Wrynn and Legion were announced alongside a new brawl map: Blackheart’s Revenge. The Characters are scheduled for release mid-November while the map sometime in December. Heroes of the Storm is an online team brawler with favourite Blizzard characters. Enjoy these juicy video morsels.

Hearthstone is also receiving an expansion with pre-orders available today. Releasing in early December, Mean Streets of Gadgetzan seeks to introduce three crime families whose side you can choose to control the city. More details are promised in the weeks to come but for now it seems the 3 affiliations include Grimy Goons, Kabal and Jade Lotus.

Starcraft 2, surprisingly, wasn’t left out either with the Co-op Commander Alexie Stukov announcement trailer. The former Terran Vice-Admiral and current-infested leader will be joining the ranks in StarCraft II to lead forces and infest units and structures using unorthodox means. Even though the trilogy of StarCraft II officially finished, Blizzard has been releasing mini campaigns titled Nova Covert Ops. Confirmation of the conclusion is set to be delivered November 22.

Overwatch got a ton of new info today, so let’s get started. First off the announcement of Sombra was released with a new character trailer. Sombra is a powerful infiltrator with hacking and EMP skills. The hacks she employs can disrupt her enemies, making them easier to take out, while the EMP gives her the upper hand against multiple foes at once. Additionally, she has a Translocate and camouflage that increases her stealth and makes it hard to target her. Blizzard seriously knows how to make cinematics and they continue their streak with her character announcement trailer below.

In what may have been the biggest announcement from this year’s Blizzcon, Blizzard announced the creation of the Overwatch League. Aiming to create a league where players will be regional, the idea behind this is quite complex and exciting. Basically, Blizzard intends on holding their very own leaderboard tryouts starting very soon to see who would be qualified to even compete. These “Professional” players will then be signed to a team where they will even receive a salary! A season will then be played out for the world to see, culminating in a Playoff. Multiple trailers were released explaining this and I’ve collected them below. You can also check out the website here.

Celebrating the 20th Anniversary, Blizzard announced today that the original Diablo will be playable in Diablo 3 starting next week. “The Darkening of Tristram” will debut in a public test realm and will allow those that own the Reaper of Souls DLC to play the entire Diablo campaign using the Diablo 3 engine. The game comes complete with 8 direction character movement, and a retro graphics filter. The “Anniversary Patch” celebrating 20 years of Diablo will also bring with it new areas “Shrouded Moors” and “Temple of the Firstborn” to adventure mode.

The reveal of Diablo IV was nothing but rumors after all. Instead “Rise of the Necromancer” was announced as a pack that will go on sale in 2017. The pack will include the Diablo 2 favorite Necromancer as a playable class along with additional stash slots, character slots and cosmetic goodies. Check out the new Commander of the dead trailer below.

What was missing from the conference announcement was anything resembling hope for its perennial MMORPG, World of Warcraft. According to Blizzard CEO Mike Morhaime, “We’re committed to releasing more content on an ongoing basis than ever before.” Like we’ve never heard that before. For now, all we got was this little guy, a charity pet for this year’s Make-A-Wish Foundation. This is important and I hope plenty of people support it but not really anything worth of note content-wise.

Stay tuned for more of what the gaming industry has to offer here on Gamersheroes.com

About author

JJ got started in the gaming industry when he left Electrical Construction behind in 2014 to start his broadcast on Twitch. With a lifelong passion for the video game industry, his dream was to play and beat 100 Games in a Year, which he finished on October 29, 2015.

His goal now is to be a professional Video Game Broadcast Journalist and is currently attending college to pursue a degree. His passion covers the entire industry so he shows enthusiasm whenever he can.

Currently his specialties are writing news, making video game gifs and streaming on his Twitch page. Otherwise you can find JJ driving Uber in the Silicon Valley to pay for college.